Threats / Sophos / CVE-2020-15069
CVE-2020-15069
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Sophos XG Firewall vulnerability
Sophos XG Firewall contains a buffer overflow in the HTTP/S bookmark feature allowing remote code execution. The vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A remote attacker can exploit a buffer overflow in the bookmark processing functionality to execute arbitrary code on affected Sophos XG Firewall appliances without authentication, leading to complete system compromise.
CISA KEV Yes · 2025-02-064EPSS 0.10674 (verify live)5CVSS 9.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
6 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2025-02-06).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.10674 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 9.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Sophos, XG Firewall. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-120 Buffer Copy without Size Check — weakness family: Memory safety.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 1683 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious HTTP/S bookmark request that overflows a fixed-size buffer in the firewall's bookmark handler.
Business
The firewall's core security functions are bypassed, exposing the organization's network perimeter to direct compromise.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I inject shellcode into the overflowed buffer to gain code execution with firewall privileges.
Business
Attackers obtain persistent administrative access to the security appliance, enabling lateral movement into protected networks.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I use the compromised firewall to intercept, modify, or exfiltrate network traffic passing through it.
Business
Sensitive data and communications are exposed; the organization loses trust in its perimeter security controls.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05